how to wash cycling clothing
08-28-20, 08:33 AM
#51
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D’oh! You are correct. I made an error. Each pair has been machine washed and dried about 150 times if all of them are 20 years old (which they aren’t). That’s still a lot of machine washing and drying without damage.
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08-31-20, 05:05 PM
#52
Junior Member
delicate bags that you can buy on Amazon for couple dollars. Has zipper on the bag and
protects the jerseys from getting caught in the washer. I typically wait to wash jersey's
and shorts until I have enough to fill two of the delicate bags. Has kept my jersey's looking
new.
08-31-20, 06:29 PM
#53
Senior Member
Actually, I have a sort of wearable sweater my parents bought me in 1961. It’s wool, stretched out and bit holy. I keep it because of the memories and it’s a fun thing to annoy my wife about.
09-01-20, 08:48 AM
#54
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I have clothes from the civil war era. Not worn. Clothes from the 1950's I wear on occasion. If you are careful with cleaning and storage, clothes should last.
09-01-20, 06:21 PM
#55
Senior Member
+1
Best method, imo, although I dont wear while washing.
Read it here (BF)a year or so ago...been using this method all summer.
I use a gentle shampoo.
No sweat smell.
About 8-12 hours hang drying (also in shower).
Ride a second set, use washed set for the next ride.
Mix up sets from the stash to reduce wear.
Best method, imo, although I dont wear while washing.
Read it here (BF)a year or so ago...been using this method all summer.
I use a gentle shampoo.
No sweat smell.
About 8-12 hours hang drying (also in shower).
Ride a second set, use washed set for the next ride.
Mix up sets from the stash to reduce wear.
09-03-20, 08:46 AM
#56
Full Member
Close all zippers and velcro closures
Turn items inside out
Do not use fabric softener
Wash on delicate cycle using warm or cold water
Hang to dry
Turn items inside out
Do not use fabric softener
Wash on delicate cycle using warm or cold water
Hang to dry
09-03-20, 08:59 AM
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Gentle cycle with an extra rinse, everything turned inside out, jerseys zipped. I will pre-treat the arm-pits on a summer ride, it gets really hot in Memphis TN and I sweat a lot.
Hang dry
Hang dry
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09-03-20, 09:17 AM
#59
Fredly Fredster
I dry my shorts and shirts on low heat. Works well... and I have bike shirts that are 5+ years old and still look new.
09-03-20, 12:59 PM
#60
Senior Member
I pile up the cycling clothing into a separate pile and at the end of the week throw everything in the pile into the washer. Cold wash/rinse with non scented laundry detergent (liquid). Than hang dry everything. I still have shorts and jerseys from the late 90s that are still serviceable. Nice to wear retro clothing when hopping on a retro bike.
09-03-20, 01:07 PM
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My wife and I just wash our bike stuff normally in the washer...usually with cold water and low spin. However, we DO NOT use the dryer for any workout clothing (i.e., anything not cotton), and we hang our clothes to dry. However, I understand if you live in a humid part of the world, hanging clothes to dry can take a long time. I live in Phoenix, and everything dries in like 5 minutes, especially this time of year.
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09-03-20, 02:04 PM
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Washing machine and dryer. Cold water and low heat, it hasn't damaged any of my exercise wear.
09-03-20, 02:06 PM
#64
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I learned that it's important to take cycling clothes out of the washer as soon as they're done to hand them up to dry. Not because sitting in the washer is bad for them, but rather because my sons might do THEIR laundry and 'helpfully' toss mine in the dryer, where, cyccommute notwithstanding, I have had lycra shorts lose their elasticity.
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09-03-20, 03:54 PM
#66
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How much longer do my clothes need to last? I’ve already got cycling clothes that are washed and dried by machine that are 20+ years old. They aren’t showing signs of wearing out so do you think I can get 50, 60, 70 years out of them if I handwash and hang dry? What’s the point?
I have kept statistics on my bicycle riding since 1988. I have consistently ridden about 50% of the year which is 182 days a year over that time frame. I have about 25 pairs of bike shorts so each one gets laundered 45 times per year. As I said, I have some that are at least 20 years old so the shorts have been washed almost 1000 times. If I were doing something, I’d think it would have shown up by now.
I’m a big proponent of doing things the easiest way possible. If something goes wrong with the way that I do things, I’m fully willing to admit to having made a mistake. But if something is easy to do and give the same results as more elaborate methods, I’m not going to do something by the more elaborate way.
I have kept statistics on my bicycle riding since 1988. I have consistently ridden about 50% of the year which is 182 days a year over that time frame. I have about 25 pairs of bike shorts so each one gets laundered 45 times per year. As I said, I have some that are at least 20 years old so the shorts have been washed almost 1000 times. If I were doing something, I’d think it would have shown up by now.
I’m a big proponent of doing things the easiest way possible. If something goes wrong with the way that I do things, I’m fully willing to admit to having made a mistake. But if something is easy to do and give the same results as more elaborate methods, I’m not going to do something by the more elaborate way.
09-03-20, 04:04 PM
#67
Full Member
Machine wash with my normal clothes (not dirty, just sweaty) then hang to dry.
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09-03-20, 06:52 PM
#68
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Lycra doesn’t have elastic in it, it is the elastic. More precisely, it is an elastomer which is a polymer that stretches. Rubber is also an elastomer but rubber’s molecular structure is very different and much more susceptible to degradation through a large variety of means. It is repeating chains of isoprene. The structure can be broken because of exposure to heat and/or light. It’s susceptible to oxidation, especially ozone oxidation. All these ways of degrading the polymer involve cleaving the isoprene molecule. Cleave enough of them and the rubber becomes less stretchy.........
09-04-20, 07:23 AM
#69
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Yes but what is your point?
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
09-04-20, 07:33 AM
#70
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Well, then you are buying much higher quality clothing than I am because those little friction strips in my shorts start to show signs of issues about a year or two after I've bought them. And I have about 7 pairs of shorts but only ride 2 to 3 times a week, very inconsistently. I get the easiest way possible. I choose that way many times and my wife is on my back about doing that all the time. It's ok. She'll be gone soon enough. But anyway, there is another thing we haven't considered. The environment. The amount of energy required to dry clothes is not insignificant. I can't quantify it but I typically put clothes on a cycle of medium heat for 20 minutes. We use natural gas. Electric would be even more costly. Anyway. Far be it for me to tell anyone what to do. At least about clothes washing. Bravo. Your clothes last you a lifetime.
As for energy, I often use bicycles for transportation. The amount of energy I save by not driving allows me to use a drier without feeling too guilty about it.
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
09-04-20, 08:59 AM
#71
Senior Member
Are you talking about the leg and waistband grippers? Those aren’t usually rubber but are silicone. Silicone is even more heat resistant.
As for energy, I often use bicycles for transportation. The amount of energy I save by not driving allows me to use a drier without feeling too guilty about it.
As for energy, I often use bicycles for transportation. The amount of energy I save by not driving allows me to use a drier without feeling too guilty about it.
09-04-20, 03:24 PM
#72
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And I guess you're right. Since you ride your bike to work that entitles you to enlarge your carbon footprint by using a dryer. Your dryer usage over the course of a year is the equivalent of flying from London to Glasgow and back plus the taxi rides to and from the airport. Again. Bravo.
In your airplane model, that 0.3 L of jet fuel would get me 7.5 km or to about Slough. No extra for taxis.
To put another way, I don’t use about 300 gallons of gas per year by driving to work. That’s about 10,000 kWh. At 130 kWh usage, that’s 75 years worth of drying for just one year of bicycle commuting. For my bicycle clothes...at 2.5 kWh per year...that’s 4000 years of drying.
I’ve commuted to work for 39 years and have saved around 7000 gallons of gasoline (about 100 tons of carbon dioxide). That’s 92,000 years of bicycle clothes drying. I think I’m okay using the drier to dry my bicycle clothes.
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
09-04-20, 03:42 PM
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09-04-20, 09:31 PM
#75
Senior Member
I have shorts from low to middle range. $80 is about the most I’ve ever spent on a pair of shorts. I’ve never had a problem with grippers coming off.
Um...no. A flight from London to Glasgow is 560 km (350 miles for the metrically challenged). An airplane uses about 4 L per 100 kilometers so the fuel used for one passenger is 22L. That’s about 6 gallons. 6 gallons of gasoline has the energy equivalent of 200 kWh. My current drier uses 130 kWhr per year for all my laundry which is the equivalent of 4 gallons of gasoline (15L) but that is for all loads of laundry. I generally do a load of bicycle laundry per week so dividing that 15L by 52 gives a energy usage to dry my bicycle clothes of less than 300mL of gasoline.
In your airplane model, that 0.3 L of jet fuel would get me 7.5 km or to about Slough. No extra for taxis.
To put another way, I don’t use about 300 gallons of gas per year by driving to work. That’s about 10,000 kWh. At 130 kWh usage, that’s 75 years worth of drying for just one year of bicycle commuting. For my bicycle clothes...at 2.5 kWh per year...that’s 4000 years of drying.
I’ve commuted to work for 39 years and have saved around 7000 gallons of gasoline (about 100 tons of carbon dioxide). That’s 92,000 years of bicycle clothes drying. I think I’m okay using the drier to dry my bicycle clothes.
Um...no. A flight from London to Glasgow is 560 km (350 miles for the metrically challenged). An airplane uses about 4 L per 100 kilometers so the fuel used for one passenger is 22L. That’s about 6 gallons. 6 gallons of gasoline has the energy equivalent of 200 kWh. My current drier uses 130 kWhr per year for all my laundry which is the equivalent of 4 gallons of gasoline (15L) but that is for all loads of laundry. I generally do a load of bicycle laundry per week so dividing that 15L by 52 gives a energy usage to dry my bicycle clothes of less than 300mL of gasoline.
In your airplane model, that 0.3 L of jet fuel would get me 7.5 km or to about Slough. No extra for taxis.
To put another way, I don’t use about 300 gallons of gas per year by driving to work. That’s about 10,000 kWh. At 130 kWh usage, that’s 75 years worth of drying for just one year of bicycle commuting. For my bicycle clothes...at 2.5 kWh per year...that’s 4000 years of drying.
I’ve commuted to work for 39 years and have saved around 7000 gallons of gasoline (about 100 tons of carbon dioxide). That’s 92,000 years of bicycle clothes drying. I think I’m okay using the drier to dry my bicycle clothes.